I did a search for similar topics and I found one a year old lol.  Hope it's okay that I'm starting a new one.

There are no good tattoo artists in my area, let alone scarification pros.  I've been a self-injurer all my life (I'm now 35 years old), so I decided to be more creative.
Skin removal is simply way too hardcore for me.  All I did was a basic cutting on my left thigh.  My goal was a butterfly and I wanted to incorporate flames into it some how.  I worked slowly so I could correct any errors along the way.
Ultimately, I rubbed cigarette ashes deeply into fresh cuttings.  I left it unbandaged (I kept papertowels on it until it stopped actively bleeding).  I cleaned it with baby wipes that I soak (but not drench) in 91% rubbing alcohol.  I would put lotion on it to slow down the scabbing process and I would slough away old and new skin for the first week or so.

Unfortunately, I'm no artist and my butterfly is slightly lopsided lol.  But I'm very happy with it.  But I made a mistake when I added the flames.  Cigarette ashes are black/blue so the flames are the same color as the butterfly, which means the butterfly now appears to be deformed unless it's closely looked at.
About a week after I made the flames, I reopened a couple areas and tried to scrub the ash out.  It wasn't happening.  I also used peroxide so now the skin is very dry.  I would like to add some color to it, but have no idea how to proceed.
I've tried bic ink, but it doesn't work that well.

Any suggestions?

Here's an incompleted picture.

The flames didn't turn out as curvy as I had hoped but it's do-able if I can make it red...

Thanks.